Aging, Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Exercise - Fitness / 22.08.2015

Rikke Hodal Meincke PhD student Center for Healthy Aging and the Department of Public Health University of CopenhagenMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rikke Hodal Meincke PhD student Center for Healthy Aging and the Department of Public Health University of Copenhagen Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Response: A sufficient level of physical capability is a precondition for maintaining independence and quality of life. Physical capability can be assessed objectively by tests of physical performance, for instance handgrip strength, chair-rising and postural balance. Physical performance is associated with mortality and disability in late life, so gaining insights into the variance in physical performance is important to promote sustained physical capability and prevent disability. Research has previously found physical activity, health status and socioeconomic position to be associated with physical performance. In addition, early life factors, such as childhood SEP, have been found to be associated with measures of physical performance later in life. The objective of our study was to examine the association between intelligence in early adulthood and midlife physical performance in Danish men. If an association between intelligence in early life and midlife physical performance exists it may indicate that cognitive abilities and physical performance share some of the same neurodevelopmental processes, but may also indicate that intelligence has an independent effect on later physical performance through various pathways. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Response: In our study of more than 2800 Danish men, we found positive associations between intelligence in early adulthood and five objective measures of physical performance in midlife independent of other early life factors. A one standard deviation increase in intelligence score resulted in 1.1 more chair-rises in 30 seconds, a 1 cm higher jump, a 3.7% smaller balance area, a 0.7 kg increase in handgrip-strength, and a 0.5 kg increase in lower back force. (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, PNAS / 20.08.2015

Edward Hill PhD student Centre for Complexity Science Member of the Warwick Infectious Disease Epidemiology Research Centre (WIDER) at the University of WarwickMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Edward Hill PhD student Centre for Complexity Science Member of the Warwick Infectious Disease Epidemiology Research Centre (WIDER) at the University of Warwick Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Response: Depression is a major public health concern worldwide. We know social factors, such as living alone, can influence whether someone becomes depressed. We also know that social support (having people to talk to) is important for recovery from depression. Our study is slightly different as we looked at the effect of being friends with people on whether you are likely to develop depression or recover from being depressed. To do this, we looked at over 2,000 adolescents in a network of US high school students to see how their mood influenced each other. (more…)
Author Interviews, Memory / 20.08.2015

Laura Steenbergen, MSc., PhD Candidate Cognitive Psychology at Institute of Psychology Leiden UniversityMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Laura Steenbergen, MSc., PhD Candidate Cognitive Psychology at Institute of Psychology Leiden University  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: A recent initiative supported by several eminent research institutes and scientists calls for a more critical and active role of the scientific community in evaluating the sometimes far-reaching, sweeping claims from the brain training industry with regard to the impact of their products on cognitive performance. tDCS is a noninvasive brain stimulation technique that has developed into a promising tool to boost human cognition. Previous studies using medical tDCS devices have shown that tDCS promotes working memory (WM) updating in healthy individuals and patients. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether the commercial tDCS headset foc.us (v.1), which is easily and freely available to anyone in the world, does in fact improve cognitive performance, as advertised in the media. Results showed that active stimulation with the commercial device, compared to sham stimulation, significantly decreased working memory performance. The device we tested is just one example of a commercial device that can easily be purchased and, without any control or expert knowledge, used by anyone. The results of our study are straightforward in showing that the claims made by companies manufacturing such devices need to be validated. Even if the consequences of long-term or frequent use of the device are yet to be demonstrated, our findings provide strong support the important role of the scientific community in validating and testing far reaching claims made by the brain training industry. (more…)
Addiction, Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, Psychological Science / 18.08.2015

Professor Jackie Andrade PhD School of Psychology Cognition Institute Plymouth University Plymouth Australia MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Jackie Andrade PhD School of Psychology Cognition Institute Plymouth University Plymouth Australia   Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Andrade: We want to understand the mental processes that are going on during episodes of craving for drugs or food. We know that cravings are largely mental events because people rarely experience them when in the middle of a mentally-engaging task - giving a presentation or finishing an exciting novel, for example. By understanding the mental processes underpinning cravings, we can improve treatments for addiction and eating problems, and also find ways of strengthening desires for healthy activities. Visual mental imagery is a key component of craving, with people picturing themselves indulging their desires. Laboratory research has shown that blocking this craving imagery can reduce the strength of cravings for food and cigarettes. Tetris is a good task for doing this because it involves a lot of visual processing to keep track of the different coloured shapes and mentally rotate them to fit the spaces. For our latest study, we wanted to find out if Tetris helped block cravings in ‘real life’ rather than in the laboratory, and whether it worked for a range of common cravings. We asked 31 participants to carry iPods with them for a week. They received text messages 7 times a day prompting them to use the iPod to report whether they were craving something and, if so, what it was and how strong the craving was. A random 15 participants assigned to the Tetris condition were also asked to play Tetris for 3 minutes and answer the craving questions again. For this group, we compared the before-Tetris and after-Tetris craving scores on each occasion and found that cravings were 20% weaker after playing Tetris. People played Tetris 40 times on average, but the craving-reducing effect did not wear off as they got used to the game. The control group who reported cravings without playing Tetris allowed us to see how cravings varied naturally across the week. Tetris reduced craving strength across the range of cravings reported, which included cravings for drugs (alcohol, nicotine, caffeine), food, and ‘other activities’ including sleep, videogaming, sex and social interaction. (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, JAMA, Pediatrics / 18.08.2015

Edward D. Barker, PhD Developmental Psychopathology Group Department of Psychology, King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry LondonMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Edward D. Barker, PhD Developmental Psychopathology Group Department of Psychology, King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry London Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Barker: The study looks at how the brain may be affected by experiences that happen early in life and adolescence. It has been known for a long time now that people who experience intense adversity are at increased risk of developing depression and other psychiatric problems. Previous research has also shown that both adversity and depression can affect the development of the brain and lead to altered brain structure. In this study, we wanted to examine how early adversity and depression relate to altered brain structure when you examined each within a specific temporal order (i.e., adversity, then depression/anxiety, then brain structure). This study design allowed us to examine not only the effects of adversity and depression, but also if some of the variation in brain structure associated with depression may also be explained by early adversity. Other researchers have previously suggested that some of the variation in brain structure observed in depressed patients may relate to early adversity, but no previous study has examined this prospectively like we did, using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Diabetes, Diabetologia / 14.08.2015

Laura Ekblad, MD, researcher Turku PET CentreMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Laura Ekblad, MD, researcher Turku PET Centre Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Ekblad: The background for our study is that the metabolic syndrome and diabetes have been shown to increase the risk for cognitive decline and dementia. Also, insulin resistance is thought to play a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer´s disease. In addition, intranasal insulin administration is being studied as a promising treatment for Alzheimer´s disease. Previous studies indicate that both gender and APOE epsilon 4 genotype modulate the effects of insulin on cognition. Our main findings are that insulin resistance is associated with poorer verbal fluency, but only in women. Our population-based study consisted of adults from 30-97 years of age and we had nearly 6000 participants. Age did not modulate the association of insulin resistance and cognition, which means that our results apply even to young adults. We also found that insulin resistance associated with poorer verbal fluency only in non-carriers of the APOE epsilon 4 genotype. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Geriatrics, UCSF, Weight Research / 13.08.2015

Meera Sheffrin MD Geriatrics Fellow Division of Geriatrics | Department of Medicine San Francisco VA Medical Center University of California, San Francisco MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Meera Sheffrin MD Geriatrics Fellow Division of Geriatrics | Department of Medicine San Francisco VA Medical Center University of California, San Francisco Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Sheffrin: The main drug treatments for dementia are a class of medications called cholinesterase inhibitors. They have only modest effects on cognition and function in most patients, but since they are one of the few available treatments for dementia and thus very commonly prescribed. However,they are known to cause GI side effects (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and anorexia) in many patients when first started. It is plausible they could also caust weight loss, espeically considering they cause nausea and anorexia. However, the data on weight loss from randomized controlled trials is very limited and inconclusive, so we did a very large observational study in a real-world of the VA national healthcare system who were newly started on these medications, to see if they were associated with weight loss. We found that patient with dementia started on cholinesterase inhibitors had a substantially higher risk of clinically significant weight loss over a 12-month period compared to matched controls. 1,188 patients started on cholinesterase inhibitors were matched to 2,189 similar patients who were started on other new chronic medications. The primary outcome was time to a 10-pound weight loss over a 12-month period, as this represents a degree of loss that would be clinically meaningful – not only noticed by a clinician but would perhaps prompt further action in considering the causes of the weight loss and medical work-up. We found that starting cholinesterase inhibitors was associated with a 24% greater risk of developing weight loss. Overall, 29% of patients started on cholinesterase inhibitors experienced a weight loss of 10 pounds or more, compared with 23% of the control group. This corresponds to a number needed to harm of 21 over 1 year; meaning only 21 patients need to be treated with a cholinesterase inhibitor over the course of a year for one patient to experience a 10 pound weight loss. (more…)
ADHD, Author Interviews, OBGYNE / 12.08.2015

Scott A. Adler, Ph.D. Associate Professor Coordinator Developmental Science Graduate Program Dept. of Psychology & Centre for Vision Research Visual and Cognitive Development Project York University Toronto, Ontario CanadaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Scott A. Adler, Ph.D. Associate Professor Coordinator Developmental Science Graduate Program Dept. of Psychology & Centre for Vision Research Visual and Cognitive Development Project York University Toronto, Ontario Canada   Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Adler: Experiences that we have early in life clearly have an impact on our brain development and behavior as we get older.  Numerous studies have detailed these experiences, ranging from how we were fed as a baby to how many languages we hear to traumatic events.  These experiences have been shown to influence formation, maintenance, and pruning of the networks of synaptic connections in our brain's that impact all manner of thought and behavior.  Yet, the impact of one of the earliest experiences, that of being born, on brain and psychological behavior has not before been explored.  A recent study with rat pups has strongly suggested that the birth process has a definite impact on initial brain development.  If that is the case, what happens if the infant's birth is one in which she does not experience the natural birth process, such as occurs with caesarean section births? Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Adler: There were two main findings from this study.  We measured the speed and timing of infants' saccadic eye movements, which are overt indicators of attention, relative to the onset of visual events on a computer monitor.  Moving attention and eye movements can occur through two general classes of processes.  The first is bottom-up mechanisms in which attention is moved reactively and automatically to the appearance or existence of unique and salient events in the world.  In this case, where attention goes is essentially controlled by the events in the world. The second is top-down mechanisms in which we move attention voluntarily to what we determine to be relevant event in the world based on our own cognitive biases and goals. This study found that 3-month-old infants born by caesarean section were significantly slower to move attention and make eye movements in reaction to the occurrence of visual events on the basis of bottom-up mechanisms than were infants born vaginally.  In contrast, there was difference between infants in moving attention and making eye movements in anticipation of the appearance of visual events on the basis of top-down mechanisms.  Additionally, maternal age, which has been shown to be related to the occurrence of caesarean sections, was found not to be related to the current effects. (more…)
Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Brain Injury, Johns Hopkins / 09.08.2015

Frederick Korley MD Ph.D Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Emergency Medicine Baltimore, MarylandMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Frederick Korley MD Ph.D Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Emergency Medicine Baltimore, Maryland Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Korley: Each year, millions of Americans are evaluated in emergency departments for traumatic brain injuries. Currently the only test available for diagnosing traumatic brain injury is a brain CT scan. Brain CT scans accurately identify bleeding in the brain from trauma. However, they are unable to identify damage to brain cells. Approximately 90% of patients with traumatic brain injury have no bleeding in the brain and therefore have unremarkable brain CT scans. However, these patients typically have damaged brain cells and they continue to suffer headaches, dizziness, attention and memory deficits, sleep problems among others for months after their injury and can’t figure out why. Therefore new tests are needed to identify traumatic brain injury patients with damaged brain cells and especially those who are likely to have persistent traumatic brain injury-related symptoms for months after injury. If you or any one in your family has sustained a brain injury in an accident, you might want to get in touch someone similar to this Personal Injury Lawyer St. Louis or a law firm more local to your area, who might be able to look into your case. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Korley: Our study determined that the blood levels of a protein called brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) can help predict whether a patient will continue to have symptoms related to traumatic brain injury at six 6 months after injury, even if they had an unremarkable brain CT scan. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Sleep Disorders / 08.08.2015

Helene Benveniste, MD, PhD Professor of Anesthesiology and Radiology Vice Chair for Research, Department of Anesthesiology Stony Brook Medicine, Stony Brook NYMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Helene Benveniste, MD, PhD Professor of Anesthesiology and Radiology Vice Chair for Research, Department of Anesthesiology Stony Brook Medicine, Stony Brook NY Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Benveniste: The ‘glymphatic’ pathway is a part of the brain and is responsible for removal of waste products and excess fluid that built up especially during wakefulness. The concept was introduced by Nedergaard’s team in 2012 from University of Rochester. Importantly it has been shown to remove waste products such as soluble amyloid beta and tau protein which build up excessively in the brain of subjects afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease. The glymphatic system has been studied in detail in animal models (not yet humans) and actually is a brain-wide pathway which runs along (i.e. on the outside) of all vessels in the brain and connects to the space around the brain cells (referred to as the interstitial fluid (ISF) space). The outer part of the glymphatic network ‘tube’ is bordered by a certain type of brain cells so-called ‘astroglial’ cells which are arranged in a special way so that their endfeet cover >97% of the surface of all brain vessels. One can think of this as if the astroglial cell’s ‘endfeet’ are arranged as a donut shaped tube around all the vessels. On the astroglial endfeet there are special water channels (aquaporin-4 water channels) which are critical for how efficiently the glymphatic system can get rid of waste because it allows water to move fast through the brain tissue so as to ‘flush’ waste products out efficiently. The small gap between the astroglial endfeet also act like a ‘sieve’ so that only waste products of a certain size can access the entire pathway. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) circulates into the glymphatic pathway from the surface of the brain along the arteries which dives directly from the surface into the deeper part of the brain; and ultimately enters the space around the brain cells; and sweeps through it and thereby mixes with the interstitial fluid of the brain which contains waste products. The CSF-ISF mix with the waste products is then flushed out on the other ‘side’ along the veins and ultimately ends up in lymph vessels in the body and then in the blood. It has been shown that the glymphatic pathway removes brain waste more efficiently in a state of ‘unconsciousness’ e.g. sleep or anesthesia when compared to wakefulness. Given this intriguing finding i.e. that sleeps seems to affect the waste clearance from the brain we thought that the next to look at was sleeping positions. We did these studies in anesthetized rodents. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, PTSD / 05.08.2015

Melissa A. Polusny, PhD, LP Staff Psychologist/Clinician Investigator Core Investigator, Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Medical School Minneapolis VA Health Care System (B68-2) One Veterans Drive Minneapolis, MN 5541MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Melissa A. Polusny, PhD, LP Staff Psychologist/Clinician Investigator Core Investigator, Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Medical School Minneapolis VA Health Care System One Veterans Drive Minneapolis, MN 5541 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Polusny: VA has invested heavily in the dissemination of prolonged exposure therapy and cognitive processing therapy as first-line treatments for PTSD; however, 30% to 50% of Veterans do not show clinically significant improvements and dropout rates are high. Evidence suggests that mindfulness-based stress reduction – an intervention that teaches individuals to attend to the present moment in a non-judgmental, accepting manner – can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. This randomized clinical trial compared mindfulness-based stress reduction with present-centered group therapy – sessions focused on current life problems. We randomly assigned 116 Veterans with PTSD to receive nine sessions of mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy (n=58) or nine sessions of present-centered group therapy (n=58). Outcomes were assessed before, during and after treatment, and at two-month follow-up. Exclusion criteria included: substance dependence (except nicotine), psychotic disorder, suicidal or homicidal ideation, and/or cognitive impairment or medical illness that could interfere with treatment. The primary outcome was a change in self-reported PTSD symptom severity over time. Secondary outcomes included interview-rated PTSD severity scores, self-reported depression symptoms, quality of life, and mindfulness skills. Mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy – compared with present-centered group therapy – resulted in a greater decrease in self-reported PTSD symptom severity. Veterans in the mindfulness-based stress reduction group were more likely to show clinically significant improvement in self-reported PTSD symptom severity (49% vs. 28%) at two-month follow-up, but they were no more likely to have loss of PTSD diagnosis (53% vs. 47%). Veterans participating in mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy reported greater improvement in quality of life and depressive symptoms than those in present-centered group therapy; however improvement in depressive symptoms scores did not reach the level of significance. Improvements in quality of life made during treatment were maintained at 2-month follow-up for Veterans in the mindfulness-based stress reduction group, but reports of quality of life returned to baseline levels for those in present-centered group therapy. The dropout rate observed for mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy (22%) in this study was lower than dropout rates reported in previous studies for PE (28.1% to 44%) and CPT (26.8% to 35%). (more…)
Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Brain Injury / 31.07.2015

Dr. Heinrich Thaler Trauma Hospital Meidling Vienna AustriaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Heinrich Thaler Trauma Hospital Meidling Vienna Austria Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Thaler:  An increased prevalence of minor head injuries in elderly patients combined with the frequent use of platelet aggregation inhibitors resulted in increased hospital admissions and cranial computed tomography. We undertook the study with the aim to reduce the workload of medical staff and costs as well as the radiation burden in the management of patients with mild head injuries. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Thaler:  S 100B is a reliable negative predictor in elderly patients and/or in patients on platelet aggregation inhibitors to rule out an intracranial hemorrhage after minor head injury (S100B is an astroglial derived protein detectable in serum in the case of cerebral tissue damage). The negative predictive value of S100B is 99,6%. We conclude that S100B levels below 0.105 µg/L can accurately predict a normal cranial computed tomography after minor head injury in older patients and those on antiplatelet medication. Additionally we found no increased risk for intracranial hemorrhage in older patients or in patients receiving antiplatelet therapy. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Diabetes, JAMA, Nutrition / 31.07.2015

Auriel A. Willette, M.S., Ph.D. Food Science and Human Nutrition Neuroscience Interdepartmental Graduate Program Gerontology Interdepartmental Graduate Program Iowa State University, AmesMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Auriel A. Willette, M.S., Ph.D. Food Science and Human Nutrition Neuroscience Interdepartmental Graduate Program Gerontology Interdepartmental Graduate Program Iowa State University, Ames Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Obesity is a major health concern around the world. Obesity causes insulin resistance, defined in this case as the inability of insulin to bind to its receptor and mediate glucose metabolism. Other researchers and I have recently found that higher insulin resistance is associated with less glucose metabolism in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. This relationship is found primarily in medial temporal lobe, an area necessary for generating new memories of facts and events. This is important because Alzheimer's disease is characterized by progressive decreases in glucose metabolism over time, and partly drives worse memory performance. Insulin resistance in midlife also increases the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. We wanted to determine if insulin resistance is linked to similar effects in cognitively normal, late middle-aged participants decades before Alzheimer's disease typically occurs. If so, insulin resistance might be an important biological marker to track from middle-age onwards. Thus, we examined the association between insulin resistance, regional glucose metabolism using FDG-PET, and memory function in 150 middle-aged participants, many of whom had a mother or father with Alzheimer's disease. We found that higher insulin resistance was strongly associated with less glucose metabolism throughout many brain regions, predominantly in areas that are affected by Alzheimer's disease. The strongest statistical effects were found in left medial temporal lobe, which again is important for generating new memories. This relationship, in turn, predicted worse memory performance, both immediately after learning a list of words and a 20-minute delay thereafter. The take-home message is that insulin resistance has an Alzheimer's-like association with glucose metabolism in middle-aged, cognitively normal people at risk for Alzheimer's, an association which is related to worse memory. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, JAMA, Mental Health Research / 30.07.2015

Alexander C. Tsai, MD, PhD Center for Global Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Cambridge, MassachusettsMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alexander C. Tsai, MD, PhD Center for Global Health Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies Cambridge, Massachusetts Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Tsai: Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among middle aged women, and the rates have been climbing over the past decade. At the same time, we know that Americans are becoming more and more isolated. As one example, over the past two decades, there has been a tripling in the number of people who say they don't have anyone to confide in about important matters. In our study, we tracked more than 70,000 American women over two decades and found that the most socially isolated women had a threefold increased risk of suicide. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, NYU, PTSD / 24.07.2015

Charles R. Marmar, MD The Lucius Littauer Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center and Director of the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center at NYU LangonMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Charles R. Marmar, MD The Lucius Littauer Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center and Director of the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center at NYU Langone MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Marmar: Approximately 2.7 million men and women served in Vietnam, and, for those who returned, many have suffered for decades from a variety of psychological problems resulting from their experiences and other injuries such as traumatic brain injury (TBI). The 25-year National Vietnam Veterans Longitudinal Study (NVVLS) was a way we could determine at various points in time how veterans were faring emotionally four decades after their service. While the vast majority are resilient, there are still over 270,000 Vietnam veterans who still have some form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and one-third of these veterans have depression. We followed up with veterans who participated in the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS) from 1984 to 1988 who were evaluated for PTSD. The NVVRS group represented a probability sample of those who served in Vietnam. Of the 1,839 participants still alive, 1,409 participated in at least one phase of the NVVLS, which involved a health questionnaire, health interview and clinical interview. The results showed that between 4.5 percent and 11.2 percent of male Vietnam veterans and 6.1 and 8.7 percent of the female veterans are currently experiencing some level of PTSD. About 16 percent of veterans in the study reported an increase of more than 20 points on a PTSD symptom scale compared to 7.6 percent who reported a decrease of greater than 20 points. (more…)
Author Interviews, Brain Injury, JAMA, Outcomes & Safety, UCLA / 23.07.2015

Aaron J. Dawes, MD Fellow, VA/RWJF Clinical Scholars Program Division of Health Services Research, University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 90024MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Aaron J. Dawes, MD Fellow, VA/RWJF Clinical Scholars Program Division of Health Services Research, University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 90024 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Dawes: In the fall of 2013, we formed the Los Angeles County Trauma Consortium, building upon a prior administrative relationship between LA County’s 14 trauma centers. We added health research researchers from UCLA and USC, and shifted the focus of the group from logistical issues to quality improvement. As a first project, our hospitals wanted to know if there was any variation in how traumatic brain injury patients are cared for across the county. Traumatic brain injury accounts for over 1/3 of all injury-related deaths in the U.S. and is the number one reason for ambulance transport to a trauma center in LA County. When we looked at the data, we found widespread variation in both how these patients were cared for at different hospitals and what happened to them as a result of that care. After adjusting for important differences in patient mix, we found that mortality rates varied by hospital from roughly 25% to 55%. As we tried to explain this variation, we looked into how often hospitals complied with two evidence-based guidelines from the Brain Trauma Foundation, hoping that we could eventually develop an intervention to boost compliance with these recommended care practices. While compliance rates varied even more widely than mortality—from 10 to 65% for intracranial pressure monitoring and 7 to 76% for craniotomy—they did not appear to be associated with risk-adjusted mortality rates. Put simply, we found no connection between how often hospitals complied with the guidelines and how likely their patients were to survive. (more…)
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, NYU / 21.07.2015

Fernando Goni, PhD MS Adjunct associate professor Department of Neurology, Center for Cognitive Neurology NYU School of Medicine NYU Langone Medical CenterMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Fernando Goni, PhD MS Adjunct associate professor Department of Neurology, Center for Cognitive Neurology NYU School of Medicine NYU Langone Medical Center Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Goni: It has been established that most neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's, Lewy Body and other dementias, Parkinson's and prion diseases develop and progress along similar paths. In each disease, a particular protein undergoes a change in its shape from a soluble, physiologically functional protein to a protein that has lost the ability to perform its required tasks in the brain, starting off a chain reaction of binding to each other with little control. These aggregates become toxic to brain cells. We raised antibodies in mice against the common beta-sheet structures present in toxic oligomers of many neurodegenerative diseases including amyloid and tau in Alzheimer's; oligomeric forms of prions and oligomerized alpha-synuclein in Parkinson's. From that response, we produced monoclonal antibodies of the same characteristics. At least three of the monoclonals recognize pathological structures in histological samples of human brains from Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and GSS (human prionosis). They also recognized in vitro the oligomeric forms particular for each disease. In old animals of a mouse model of Alzheimer's, that already had pathology, the monoclonal antibodies could rescue behavior and reduced significantly the oligomers of Tau and Abeta. (more…)
Author Interviews, Memory, Occupational Health, Sleep Disorders / 14.07.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jonathan Cedernaes M.D., Ph.D. Department of Neuroscience Uppsala University SwedenJonathan Cedernaes M.D., Ph.D. Department of Neuroscience Uppsala University Sweden Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Cedernaes: Sleep is known to facilitate the formation of long-term memory in humans, by transferring newly learned memories from short-term to long-term memory stores. Studies however indicate that even shorter periods of sleep - including naps - can ensure access to different types of memories under normal restful conditions. Furthermore, while some studies have shown that acute sleep loss can exacerbate e.g. physiological responses to acute stress, it it has not been studied whether shortened sleep in combination with acute cognitive stress can have a negative impact on the retrieval of newly learned memories. With this background in mind, we conducted a study where we aimed to investigate how nocturnal sleep duration impacts this memory transfer, and to what extent long-term memories formed by sleep remain accessible after acute cognitive stress. We recruited 15 participants who in each of two sessions first underwent a learning session in the evening, during which they learned 15 card pair locations on a computer screen. Then, in one of the two experimental session, subjects slept for half a night (4-hr), instead being able to sleep for a full night (8-hr) in the other session. On the morning after each sleep condition, we had the subjects try to recall as many card pair locations as possible. We found that following half a night of sleep (4-hr), participants were equally able to recall memories for the learned card pair locations, as after a full night of sleep (8-hr). However, we also showed that the ability to retrieve memories following 30 minutes of acute stress, in the morning after these two sleep conditions, was different depending on whether the participants had slept for 8 or 4 hours. Following short sleep, the 30-min long stress exposure reduced the participants' ability to recall the card pair locations that the participants had learned the previous night by around 10%. In contrast, no such stress-induced memory impairment was observed when the same men were allowed to sleep for a full night. (more…)
Author Interviews, PTSD / 14.07.2015

MedicalResearch.com interview with Dr. Ella James, Post-Doctoral Investigator Scientist Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit Cambridge, UK. MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? Dr. James: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is experienced by some people after a traumatic event. While many people who’ve been involved in traumatic events don’t experience PTSD, those who do typically have repeated visual intrusive memories of certain moments in vivid detail that pop back into mind, seemingly out of the blue. For example, with PTSD after a car crash might repeatedly ‘see’ the moment the other car crashed into them. The recommended treatment for PTSD is cognitive behaviour therapy, a talking therapy that has been demonstrated to work well. But it is only delivered once intrusive memories have become established and PTSD is diagnosable – i.e. at least one month after the traumatic event occurred. At present, there is nothing readily available for use soon after trauma that has been shown to prevent symptoms building up and PTSD becoming established. In previous laboratory work our research team showed that playing Tetris shortly after viewing events with traumatic content (e.g. film footage of road safety campaigns – what we call an experimental trauma) could reduce intrusive memories of those events in healthy volunteers over the following week [2, 3] when played in a 4-hour time window after viewing. We reasoned that this was because having to follow and track the shapes, colour and movement of the coloured blocks in Tetris soon after seeing the experimental trauma (the film) disrupted aspects of the visual memory of that event from being ‘laid down’ in the sensory part of the brain, whilst leaving memory for the narrative and meaning of the events unaffected. However, it is hard to reach people so soon after a traumatic event in the real world and memories for events become ‘fixed’ in mind within hours after an event making them difficult to change. Therefore it was important to show whether we can change older, established memories of trauma. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Cognitive Issues, Radiation Therapy / 13.07.2015

MB. Pinkham, Clinical Oncology Christie NHS Foundation Trust Manchester UKMedicalResearch.com Interview with: MB. Pinkham, Clinical Oncology Christie NHS Foundation Trust Manchester UK Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Response: Brain metastases are a serious complication of advanced malignancy and for most patients the objective is to maximise quality of survival. As treatment decisions become increasingly tailored to the individual, patient-focussed measures of efficacy such as neurocognitive function (NCF) are an important consideration. This is illustrated by the NCCTG N0574 randomised study reported last month at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2015 Annual Meeting. 208 patients with 1-3 brain metastases each <3cm were randomised to stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) or SRS with whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT). The addition of WBRT improved intracranial disease control but did not translate into a survival benefit and was associated with a decline in neurocognitive function at 3 months. The objective of our study was to describe the types of changes in neurocognitive function that can occur, summarise how they are assessed and review approaches used to mitigate their effects. We wanted to provide busy physicians with a clear and comprehensive overview of the topic that could be used to inform clinical decisions. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Response: Using sensitive tests, most patients with brain metastases have deficits in neurocognitive function at diagnosis. Evaluating and understanding changes after treatment is complex because neurocognitive function is a dynamic process that is influenced by a long list of inter-related factors. For patients treated using whole brain radiotherapy alone, worsening neurocognitive function is observed in about two-thirds within 2-6 months. Deficits in verbal memory and fine motor control are most common. It is unclear what proportion relates to treatment toxicity as opposed to disease progression or pre-terminal decline because both are unfortunately also common events during this interval. By contrast, in other patients, NCF improves after WBRT due to treatment response. For patients with 1-4 brain metastases treated using SRS, the addition of WBRT improves intracranial disease control at the expense of deficits in verbal memory at 4 months but the impact of recurrence and salvage therapy on neurocognitive function later than this is uncertain. Scant data suggests that some deficits in neurocognitive function after WBRT may improve with time in long term survivors. For patients with ≥5 brain metastases, SRS and/or systemic therapies may be considered in select patients instead of upfront whole brain radiotherapy but high quality evidence is lacking. Advanced radiotherapy technologies, such as hippocampal-sparing WBRT and post-operative cavity SRS, can limit the dose delivered to unaffected areas of the brain in the hope of reducing toxicity. Randomised studies assessing their efficacy and cost-effectiveness in various clinical situations are underway prior to routine use. Small but statistically significant improvements in certain neurocognitive domains can also be achieved using medications such as memantine and donepezil. Preclinical data suggests that some commonly available drugs (such as ramipril, lithium and indomethacin) may have neuroprotective properties following WBRT; further evaluation is warranted. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Diabetes, JCEM / 11.07.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Wei-Che Chiu, MD, PhD National Taiwan University College of Public Health, Cathay General Hospital and Fu Jen Catholic University Taipei, Taiwan Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Response: Diabetes mellitus is a common risk factor for dementia and accounts for 6–8% of all cases of dementia in older populations. Cognitive impairment is associated with the presence of diabetic complications and diabetic severity, but the effects of diabetic severity on dementia are unclear. Our study was to investigate the association between the severity and progress of diabetes and the risk of dementia. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Response: The diabetic severity and progression reflected the risk of dementia, and the early progress in diabetic severity could predict the risk of dementia in new-onset diabetic patients. (more…)
Author Interviews, Beth Israel Deaconess, Cognitive Issues, Diabetes, Neurology / 11.07.2015

Vera Novak, MD PhD Associate Professor of Neurology Dept. of Neurology, Stroke Division Director Syncope and Falls in the Elderly Laboratory Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Boston, MAMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Vera Novak, MD PhD Associate Professor of Neurology Dept. of Neurology, Stroke Division Director Syncope and Falls in the Elderly Laboratory Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Boston, MA MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? Dr. Novak: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality. Type 2 diabetes mellitus affects more than 44 million people in the U.S., and its numbers are growing rapidly, affecting up to 27% of older adults. Diabetes mellitus accelerates brain aging by about 5 years1, manifests as a widespread generalized atrophy2, and promotes earlier onset of vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).3,4 Diabetes mellitus -related atrophy manifests as worse cognitive function, memory, and gait, especially during a dual task, 5,6 and even a tight glycemic control did not improve cognitive function in participants of the large clinical trials 7. MedicalResearch: What are the main findings? Dr. Novak: Sixty-five participants (aged 66± 9.2 years) 35 with T2DM and 30 non-diabetic controls participated in this study. After 2 years of follow-up, participants with T2 Diabetes mellitus had diminished vascular reactivity in the brain (an ability to increase blood flow in responses to a task or metabolic demands) and performed worse on multiple cognitive tasks (in particular verbal learning and memory). In T2DM group, lower cerebral vasoreactivity correlated with worse performance on daily living activities. Specifically, the lower vasodilatation (ability to increase blood flow) was associated with worse mental functions. In addition, those with higher markers of inflammation had greater decline in vascular function in the brain. (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, Mental Health Research, Pediatrics / 10.07.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Katie Burkhouse, Graduate Student and Dr. Brandon Gibb Ph.D Professor of Psychology Director of the Mood Disorders Institute and Center for Affective Science Binghamton University Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Gibb:  One of the strongest risk factors for depression is a family history of the disorder.  However, even among this at-risk group, the majority of children of depressed parents do not develop depression themselves.  For those who do become depressed, the depression can severely and negatively affect their social and academic functioning, become chronic or recurrent over the lifespan, and increase risk for suicide.  What is needed therefore, is a good indicator of which children may be at greatest risk for depression so that interventions can be targeted to these individuals.  We believe that pupil dilation may represent one such marker.  Changes in pupil dilation are associated with activity in the brain’s emotional circuits and have been linked in previous research to the presence of depression.  What my graduate student Katie Burkhouse found is that, even among children who are not currently experiencing symptoms of depression, the degree to which their pupil dilates when they look at pictures of sad faces predicts their risk for developing clinically significant episodes of depression over the next two years.  The findings were specific to pupil responses to sad faces and were not observed when children looked at happy or angry faces suggesting that there is something specific to how the children were processing sad images. (more…)
Author Interviews, Insomnia, JAMA, Mental Health Research / 07.07.2015

Jason Ong, Ph.D., CBSM Associate Professor, Department of Behavioral Sciences Director, Behavioral Sleep Medicine Training Program Rush University Medical CenterMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jason Ong, Ph.D., CBSM Associate Professor, Department of Behavioral Sciences Director, Behavioral Sleep Medicine Training Program Rush University Medical Center Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Insomnia is a very common sleep problem that was previously thought to be related to another medical or psychiatric condition.  Evidence now supports the notion that insomnia can emerge as a disorder distinct from the comorbid condition.  In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), the most widely used nonpharmacologic treatment for insomnia, in the context of medical and psychiatric comorbidities. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 37 studies and found that 36% of patients who received cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia were in remission at post-treatment compared to 17% who received a control or comparison condition.  CBT-I had medium to large effects for improving sleep quality and reducing the amount of time awake in bed.  Positive findings were also found on the comorbid condition, with greater improvements in psychiatric conditions compared to medical conditions. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, FASEB / 05.07.2015

Milan Fiala, M.D. Research Professor, UCLA Department of Surgery Los Angeles, CAMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Milan Fiala, M.D. Research Professor, UCLA Department of Surgery Los Angeles, CA Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Fiala: Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation is well-known to public for its health benefits in cardiovascular diseases and putative benefits against “Minor Cognitive Impairment” reported in other studies . This study shows that omega-3 protected against oxidation and resveratrol improves the immune system against amyloid-beta in the brain,  probably by increasing its clearance from the brain by the immune system. Overall the patients taking the drink seemed to preserve their memory better for up to 2 years than expected based on previous studies. However, our study was small and not controlled by a placebo, which may present a bias.   (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, Sexual Health, Testosterone / 03.07.2015

Michael S. Irwig MD Division of Endocrinology Medical Faculty Associates George Washington UniversityMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael S. Irwig MD Division of Endocrinology Medical Faculty Associates George Washington University Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Many factors are associated with lower testosterone levels and many men who have their testosterone levels checked have non-specific depressive symptoms. The main finding is a remarkably high rate of depression and depressive symptoms (56%) in men who are referred for borderline testosterone levels. Other significant findings include a prevalence of overweight and obesity higher than the general population. (more…)
Author Interviews, Columbia, JACC, PTSD, Women's Heart Health / 30.06.2015

Jennifer A. Sumner, Ph.D.MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jennifer A. Sumner, Ph.D. Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health New York, NY 10032 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Sumner: Cardiovascular disease, which includes conditions like heart attack and stroke, is the leading cause of death worldwide. Stress has long been thought to increase risk of cardiovascular disease, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the quintessential stress-related mental disorder. Some individuals who are exposed to traumatic events, such as unwanted sexual contact, the sudden unexpected death of a loved one, and physical assault, develop PTSD, which is characterized by symptoms of re-experiencing the trauma (e.g., nightmares), avoidance of trauma reminders (e.g., avoiding thinking about the trauma), changes in how one thinks and feels (e.g., feeling emotionally numb), and increased physiological arousal and reactivity (e.g., being easily startled). PTSD is twice as common in women as in men; approximately 1 in 10 women will develop PTSD in their lifetime. Research has begun to suggest that rates of cardiovascular disease are higher in people with PTSD. However, almost all research has been done in men. My colleagues and I wanted to see whether PTSD was associated with the development of cardiovascular disease in a large sample of women from the general public. We looked at associations between PTSD symptoms and new onsets of heart attack and stroke among nearly 50,000 women in the Nurses’ Health Study II over 20 years, beginning in 1989. Women with the highest number of PTSD symptoms (those reporting 4+ symptoms on a 7-item screening questionnaire) had 60% higher rates of developing cardiovascular disease (both heart attack and stroke) compared to women who were not exposed to traumatic events. Unhealthy behaviors, including lack of exercise and obesity, and medical risk factors, including hypertension and hormone replacement use, accounted for almost 50% of the association between elevated PTSD symptoms and cardiovascular disease. We also found that trauma exposure alone (reporting no PTSD symptoms on the screening questionnaire) was associated with elevated cardiovascular disease risk compared to no trauma exposure. Our study is the first to look at trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms and new cases of cardiovascular disease in a general population sample of women. These results add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that trauma and PTSD have profound effects on physical health as well as mental health. (more…)
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research / 25.06.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ezequiel Morsella, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Neuroscience Department of Psychology San Francisco State University Assistant Adjunct Professor Department of Neurology University of California, San Francisco Boardmember, Scientific Advisory Board Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Buenos Aires Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Morsella: The theoretical framework, Passive Frame Theory, builds on an action-based, theoretical project that first appeared in Psychological Review, in 2015. The framework is a synthesis of hypotheses from disparate fields. It reveals that consciousness serves as a frame that constrains and directs skeletal muscle output, thereby yielding adaptive behavior.  From this unique, action-based perspective, consciousness is in the service of the somatic nervous system. How consciousness achieves this is more counterintuitive, ‘low level,’ and passive than the kinds of functions that theorists have attributed to consciousness. (more…)
Author Interviews, Autism, JAMA, OBGYNE / 25.06.2015

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ali S. Khashan, Ph.D. Irish Centre for Fetal and Neonatal Translational Research (INFANT) Cork, Ireland Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Khashan: The Caesarean section rate is increasing worldwide reaching 30% in some western countries and 50% in China and Brazil. As a result, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the long-term effects this procedure may have on both mother and child. Previously, our group conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published literature and found birth by Caesarean to be associated with approximately 20% increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), compared to birth by vaginal delivery. This means if the risk of ASD in children born by vaginal delivery were 1%, and the association was causal, the risk of autism spectrum disorder in children born by Caesarean section is 1.2% i.e. two additional ASD cases per 1000 births. However, studies were limited, and we were unable to determine what was driving this association. In our new study, now published in JAMA Psychiatry, we investigated this issue further with the largest study on this subject to date, including all children born in Sweden between 1982 and 2010. Our study included data on over 2.9 million people and accounted for variety of factors known to be associated with both Caesarean section and autism spectrum disorder. After controlling for known confounders, such as maternal age and psychiatric history as well as various other perinatal and socio-demographic factors, we confirmed our previous findings that birth by Caesarean was associated with approximately 20% increased risk of autism spectrum disorder, compared to birth by vaginal delivery. However, with this analysis it remained unclear whether the increased risk was due to the Caesarean section itself, or some genetic or environmental factor that we were unable to measure. To determine if it was birth by Caesarean section or another unknown factor which led to an increased risk of ASD, we compared children with autism spectrum disorder to their non-diagnosed brothers and sisters. In other words, we analysed pairs of siblings in which one was diagnosed with ASD and one was not, to determine if birth by Caesarean was associated with increased risk of ASD within families. In this way, we attempted to indirectly account for genetic and family environment factors that are shared by siblings but we were unable to measure in the general population. In this analysis, which included data on over 13,000 sibling pairs, there was no longer any association between birth by Caesarean section and ASD. Overall, these results indicate that though birth by Caesarean section may be associated with an increased risk of ASD, it is likely due to family factors such as genetics or environment, rather than the Caesarean section itself. These findings are more informative than many previous studies as we had the largest sample size on this topic to date and estimated the association between Caesarean section and the risk of autism spectrum disorder while comparing siblings born by different methods of delivery. This allowed us to control for many factors that other studies did not. (more…)